Current Events > Just played the entire Dark Souls trilogy... time for some BOSS RANKINGS!

(+) Yeah! (+)

New page means new recap, with our rankings so far from 92-11:

Centipede Demon
Royal Rat Vanguard
Demon Firesage
Prowling Magus & Congregation
Pinwheel
Belfry Gargoyles
Twin Dragonriders
The Gank Squad
Royal Rat Authority
Blue Smelter Demon
Dragonrider
Ruin Sentinels
Covetous Demon
Mytha, the Baneful Queen
Scorpioness Najka
Giant Lord
Iron Golem
The Bed of Chaos
Lud & Zallen, the Kings Pets
Skeleton Lords
Old Dragonslayer
Deacons of the Deep
Halflight, Spear of the Church
The Last Giant
Moonlight Butterfly
The Pursuer
Flexile Sentry
The Rotten
Guardian Dragon
Demon of Song
Ancient Dragon
Nashandra
The Lost Sinner
Bell Gargoyles
Throne Defender & Throne Watcher
Ancient Wyvern
Looking Glass Knight
Vendrick
Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin
Asylum Demon
Stray Demon
Capra Demon
Taurus Demon
Ceaseless Discharge
Seath the Scaleless
Nito
Crystal Sage
Old Iron King
Yhorm the Giant
Elana, the Squalid Queen
The Dukes Dear Freja
Velstadt, the Royal Aegis
Crossbreed Priscilla
Sanctuary Guardian
Executioners Chariot
Curse-Rotted Greatwood
Gravetender Greatwolf
Dark Sun Gwyndolin
High Lord Wolnir
Gaping Dragon
Chaos Witch Quelaag
Iudex Gundyr
Smelter Demon
Vordt of the Boreal Valley
Aava, the Kings Pet
Old Demon King
Darklurker
Black Dragon Kalameet
Dragonslayer Armor
Oceiros, the Consumed King
Aldrich, Devourer of Gods
Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon
Demon Prince
Great Grey Wolf Sif
Four Kings
Dancer of the Boreal Valley
Sir Alonne
Soul of Cinder
Burnt Ivory King
Ornstein & Smough
Manus, Father of the Abyss
Fume Knight

And your remaining Top Ten, in alphabetical order...

Abyss Watchers (DS3)
Champion Gundyr (DS3)
Darkeater Midir (DS3 - The Ringed City)
Gwyn, Lord of Cinder (DS1)
Knight Artorias (DS1 - Artorias of the Abyss)
Nameless King (DS3)
Pontiff Sulyvahn (DS3)
Sister Friede (DS3 - Ashes of Ariandel)
Slave Knight Gael (DS3 - The Ringed City)
Twin Princes (DS3)

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Another fun fact: If you enter the fight wearing Velstadt's helm, it enrages him and he enters phase two right away. I also think phase two is the easier one, since the big FUGS swings are easier to see coming.

I keep a save where I just have a summon sign outside his room because I love his fight so much
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I wasted so many effigies on him

I already dont think Abyss Watchers should scratch the top 10. Definitely not over Fume Knight.

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UnholyMudcrab posted...

Another fun fact: If you enter the fight wearing Velstadt's helm, it enrages him and he enters phase two right away. I also think phase two is the easier one, since the big FUGS swings are easier to see coming.

I keep a save where I just have a summon sign outside his room because I love his fight so much

yeah i love this touch to the fight! but fume knight is one spicy motherfucker anyway

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radical rhino posted...

I already dont think Abyss Watchers should scratch the top 10. Definitely not over Fume Knight.

k but u wrong doe.gif

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i do love the variety in opinions the top end of the list is bringing to light, though. So far Ive heard:

-the list was a joke because O&S werent #1
-O&S might not be the ABSOLUTE BEST but no way is Fume Knight better than them
-Abyss Watchers is one of the best fights in the trilogy
-Abyss Watchers should not be top ten and Fume Knight is way better

The real ranking is the friends were making along the way

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Abyss Watchers isn't even like top 30 bro

I personally don't think I'd put Abyss Watchers in my top 10 because I think they have too little health and stagger too easily, but I can understand why someone would.
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MushroomMuncher posted...

If you couldn't parry Gwyn, he would be one of the hardest bosses in the series

Prove me wrong

I beat Gwyn first try by facetanking everything. If I can beat a Dark Souls boss first try, they're either well-designed or weak, but they aren't one of the hardest bosses in the series.

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One of my favorite DS3 memories is being summoned for Abyss Watchers by another person with a great axe. We just took turns using the charged R2 to pound the first Abyss Watcher into the ground and he couldn't get out of it.

MorganTJ posted...

One of my favorite DS3 memories is being summoned for Abyss Watchers by another person with a great axe. We just took turns using the charged R2 to pound the first Abyss Watcher into the ground and he couldn't get out of it.

"You have my axe."

wham

"And MY axe!"

WHAM

"AND MY AXE!"

WHAM

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drumroll

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oh fuck oh shit I knocked it over

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10 - Darkeater Midir (DS3 - The Ringed City)


"Perhaps thou'st beheld the lone dragon that inhabiteth this city? Midir is his name, and the Archdragons are his forebears. He once railed against the dark, but was by dark afflicted. Now here, returned, he remaineth, to watch over the sleeping Princess, true to the old accord... and yet, I would have thee put the dragon to rest, afore the dark consumeth him, and his vows are forgot."
...

For those most intrepid of explorers, hidden away in an underground cavern accessible only behind an illusory wall in the trilogy's final DLC lies what is by far, bar none, the best dragon boss fight Souls has to offer. Darkeater Midir is a badass, and the mere chance to duke it out with him is a rewarding secret to discover all of its own. Having been tasked with keeping the darkness of man at bay for untold eons, Midir has begun to fall to the darkness himself. If his dark hue was not enough of a clue, perhaps his explosive dark lasers will clue you in.

As an encounter, Midir certainly provides quite the hearty challenge, with devastating melee, a ton of mobility, regular fire, the explosive dark abilities, and a massive health pool to boot. If fighting dragons or other huge monsters is your personal favorite kind of Dark Souls encounter, then I couldn't blame you for having Midir as high as #1 on your own list. However, what holds him at #9 for me is just that -- I had heard people discuss Midir for years as possibly the toughest boss in all of Dark Souls, and after mentally bracing myself for the ultimate showdown, I did personally find that Midir was still ultimately "just a dragon." The hardest dragon in the trilogy and the best designed? 100%. Still, you can deal with him by sticking near his head, rolling on his bite/swipe patterns, and punishing him during what is actually some extremely generous downtime if you aren't being too greedy. The hardest thing to get down for me was recognizing when he was about to breathe straight down and getting out of the way in a timely manner, which is a familiar tried and true mechanic from Kalameet, Sinh, and even the Ancient Dragon. Once that clicked, it was mostly just an endurance test. He's certainly not easy, but coming in expecting the fight of my life only to beat him within 4-5 tries was just a bit of a letdown.

All that being said, that factor is simply my own personal experience as I rank my favorite bosses in all of Souls. The list is not strictly objective, and the big guy is still an easy top ten even by my own subjective experience. That Godzilla attack where he breathes the straight line out and then in an arc, leaving an explosion on about a second delay, is a REALLY cool attack both from a gameplay and a spectacle standpoint. If anything, I wish he had a couple more attacks that utilized that concept, because that's the part that stuck with me most.

When it comes to the absolute tip-top tier, I may personally prefer nimbler fights than dragons provide (check the names remaining on the list for all the evidence you need), but as dragons go? Darkeater Midir reigns supreme.

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Midir is the only boss I didnt beat. It seemed like he spent 80% of his time in the air, and when he landed I needed to make my way towards his face, and only managed to get a few hits in before he left again. I eventually got frustrated and just proceeded to Gael.

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radical rhino posted...

Midir is the only boss I didnt beat. It seemed like he spent 80% of his time in the air, and when he landed I needed to make my way towards his face, and only managed to get a few hits in before he left again. I eventually got frustrated and just proceeded to Gael.

That's the beautiful thing, when I say I beat Midir in 4-5 tries (I think, it was at least single digits), that doesn't make me a Souls god. As DS3 DLC is concerned, I had a hell of a time with Friede and Gael, both of whom I found substantially harder than Midir. I've seen tons of people that had the opposite experience of that. We've all just got our own strengths.

Even as I rank Midir at 10 I feel like it's probably a little too low and impacted by the recency of my "expecting more" experience with him, but obviously the bosses that give you your biggest YESSSS!!!!! moments will probably be some of your more precious memories.

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The top ten is way too heavy on ds3 and ds3 is my favorite souls game lol

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CommunismFTW posted...

The top ten is way too heavy on ds3 and ds3 is my favorite souls game lol

Is it, though? IS IT too heavy?

It is 100% DS3 heavy, but from what I've read over the years, I don't think I'm alone in thinking their boss design improved drastically in the Bloodborne/DS3/Sekiro stretch. I could talk myself into bumping Fume Knight, O&S, Burnt Ivory King, and maybe Alonne into the top ten perhaps but not really anyone else.

I've not thought much specifically, since they're obviously NOT in the list, but if I were including Bloodborne and Sekiro:
-Ludwig
-Orphan of Kos
-Father Gascoigne
-Gehrman
-Vicar Amelia
-Owl (Father)
-Guardian Ape
-Isshin Ashina
-Genichiro
-Demon of Hatred
-Sword Saint

would probably be... oh, I dunno, all or most of those would be landing at least on par with that range where I had Demon Prince, Sif, Dancer, Alonne, Soul of Cinder, etc or better. Ludwig, Orphan, Owl, and Isshin could push for top 3.

TLDR I simply think FromSoft has gotten substantially better at bosses over time and it shows in my rankings. World interconnectivity has yet to top DS1 though.

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Sister Friede was my favorite boss of the series. The oh shit moment when the third phase kicks in

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KalimariX8 posted...

Sister Friede was my favorite boss of the series. The oh shit moment when the third phase kicks in

Id like it more if it checkpointed at phase 3. Without that the fight feels like it drags on too long and becomes an annoyance.

As for the topic, Gael sits at my top spot. After the entire series of flame, dark, and the desperation to ward off the creeping hand of entropy, it isnt gods, demons, or anything in between that makes it to the worlds last moments. Its two undead duking it out for the dark soul.

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19 - Great Grey Wolf Sif (DS1)
The goodest boi in all of Souls can't really go much higher than this due to being outflanked mechanically by other beastly bosses in future installments, but Sif is just so iconic. The ambiance of his arena, the lore surrounding him and Artorias, and the heartbreaking limping towards the end of the fight make Sif one of the definitive Souls encounters. If you're masochistic enough to trigger the bonus cutscene by playing Artorias of the Abyss before tackling Sif, get your handkerchiefs ready and Prepare to Cry as you duel your old friend to the death for your sacred tasks.

maybe just me but i feel like sif was the sweet spot of combining visual design, lore, mechanical challenge, and depression

"no fren, cant let u do this to yourself!"

i get that other bosses were harder, but sif was the boss that everyone- experienced players and new players alike- fought in what felt like was a hard but fair struggle.

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Mormaurd posted...

Id like it more if it checkpointed at phase 3. Without that the fight feels like it drags on too long and becomes an annoyance.

Well talk about it when she comes up in my rankings, but I feel it works because none of the phases actually have very much health. It doesnt take long to get back to Blackflame Freide once youre good enough to get to her consistently.

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Yeah I think the Friede fight is fair considering its the last boss of the dlc. Not to mention Gael is a very competent AI summon if you need it.

Sackgurl posted...

maybe just me but i feel like sif was the sweet spot of combining visual design, lore, mechanical challenge, and depression

"no fren, cant let u do this to yourself!"

i get that other bosses were harder, but sif was the boss that everyone- experienced players and new players alike- fought in what felt like was a hard but fair struggle.

Absolutely. I love Sif and if someone has him top ten based on what you said, Id get it. Like Ive said, pretty much every boss on the list from Dragonslayer Armor and on is a banger. Just up to preference.

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Sackgurl posted...

maybe just me but i feel like sif was the sweet spot of combining visual design, lore, mechanical challenge, and depression

"no fren, cant let u do this to yourself!"

i get that other bosses were harder, but sif was the boss that everyone- experienced players and new players alike- fought in what felt like was a hard but fair struggle.

DeS and DaS1 have more of these encounters that are designed to be more memorable than they are "OMG most difficult boss ever!" which is one reason I appreciate them more.

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Zodd3224 posted...

DeS and DaS1 have more of these encounters that are designed to be more memorable than they are "OMG most difficult boss ever!" which is one reason I appreciate them more.

For sure, I dont think difficulty is the be all, end all. I do think the best of the best manage to do both, though aesthetic design/general vibe AND challenge.

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Zodd3224 posted...

DeS and DaS1 have more of these encounters that are designed to be more memorable than they are "OMG most difficult boss ever!" which is one reason I appreciate them more.

I think this is a very fair point and the main reason why I prefer Demon's Souls bosses to all of the "Dark" bosses. It might also be because it was my first Souls game, but how do you separate out nostalgia in your assessment of these things? I mean, no one would ever try to claim that the Penetrator is more mechanically developed or challenging than Ornstein, but I still prefer the Demon's version of the "boss that runs you through and chucks you to the side".

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Meanwhile, I'm still stuck at the blue smelter demon.

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I'm actually in full agreement with your top 10, with Friede being my #1. There was a lot of Lady Maria in the DNA of that fight, and that's a good thing.

I think Dark Souls 3 has the highest ratio of good bosses to crap ones in the trilogy

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Gwynevere posted...

I think Dark Souls 3 has the highest ratio of good bosses to crap ones in the trilogy

Agreed (obviously, looking at my list). I think its really impressive that the worst fight in DS3 might be Deacons of the Deep, which is still kinda cool.

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I like what they were toying with, with the Friede and Guardian Ape from Sekiro. Specifically surprise resurrectionadditional phase. I hope to see more of that in the future.

meralonne posted...

I think this is a very fair point and the main reason why I prefer Demon's Souls bosses to all of the "Dark" bosses. It might also be because it was my first Souls game, but how do you separate out nostalgia in your assessment of these things? I mean, no one would ever try to claim that the Penetrator is more mechanically developed or challenging than Ornstein, but I still prefer the Demon's version of the "boss that runs you through and chucks you to the side".

May not just be nostalgia cuz I didn't play DeS until the remake and it's still tied for my favorite with DaS1.

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Blackstar110 posted...

Agreed (obviously, looking at my list). I think its really impressive that the worst fight in DS3 might be Deacons of the Deep, which is still kinda cool.

I could really feel a lot of Bloodborne in Dark Souls 3, which is awesome because Bloodborne is my favorite From game.

Too much of DS1 and DS2 just misses the mark for my tastes

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Blackstar110 posted...

Well talk about it when she comes up in my rankings, but I feel it works because none of the phases actually have very much health. It doesnt take long to get back to Blackflame Freide once youre good enough to get to her consistently.

*laughs in NG+7*

Jesus that fight took forever solo. ._.

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CapnMuffin posted...

I like what they were toying with, with the Friede and Guardian Ape from Sekiro. Specifically surprise resurrectionadditional phase. I hope to see more of that in the future.

Yep. You cant do it too often or it loses its luster, but I get thoroughly punked by both.

I thought it was a smart choice that after youve faced Friede with three phases (one being a fakeout) and Demon Prince with a 2v1 opening and a second healthbar of his own, Midir and Gael just had one massive healthbar.

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Zodd3224 posted...

May not just be nostalgia cuz I didn't play DeS until the remake and it's still tied for my favorite with DaS1.

I'll provide a counterpoint and say that it is just nostalgia, as I played DeS after I played through the rest of the Souls series (minus Sekiro and half of DkS 3) and I think DeS is easily the worst of the franchise (still a great game though).

The remake is next on my list once I finish this replay of Bloodborne (classic behavior for me... buy a PS5 with the primary purpose of playing Demon's Souls for the first time, instead get suckered into Spider Man, then somehow end up buying the entire Dark Souls trilogy and playing that first, then replaying Bloodborne, THEN maybe play Demon's Souls) and I'm definitely excited to see how it holds up.

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thick russian accent

It is time for roll of drum

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Durururururum

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9 - Abyss Watchers (DS3)


"The Undead Legion of Farron is a caravan of Undead. Sworn by the wolf's blood to contain the Abyss, the Legion will bury a kingdom at the first sign of exposure. Joyous bunch, really."
...

Bosses in the early-to-mid game of the Dark Souls trilogy face a tough task. You don't want to overwhelm a player by suddenly throwing an encounter at them that they cannot possibly have braced for, but at some point, you want a heat check, a "pop quiz" to test the player's readiness for what is it to come. I would argue that no boss in the entire trilogy accomplishes this with the aplomb of Farron's Undead Legion, known more commonly as the Abyss Watchers. An army of undead who fashion themselves in the image of Artorias, these undead have devoted themselves to ensuring what happened to Oolacile never happens again, even if it means razing cities to the ground at the first sign of the dark. Unfortunately, the abyss has a tendency to corrupt, and they have begun to succumb, likely due to the proximity to Carthus and High Lord Wolnir. In ages past, the Followers of Farron would track behind them and execute any who had fallen to darkness, but after the Watchers linked the fire, the Followers had no purpose and found themselves drawn into the Painted World. Thus, once brought back in the events of Dark Souls 3, you have an army of ashen Watchers, constantly turning on each other to fight the darkness within themselves, but continuously resurrecting, leading to an endless cycle of killing each other within the mausoleum. This is where we come in.

The fight mechanics are a perfect match with the lore. You're not really the focus so much as a distraction to their perpetual combat. Once an allied Watcher joins in, the player will likely be initially overjoyed to have an ally, only to realize that this isn't a 2v2, it's a free-for-all. Your "ally" has no problem turning on you in a heartbeat. The dark is everywhere, and everyone must die. No other boss in the trilogy really attempts this, and it is wildly effective and a boatload of fun. Then, of course, all that goes out the window at the end of phase one, when their essence is centralized in one turbo-charged Watcher ready to take you to the cleaners... and he probably will.

What I said at the start about a mid-game heat check comes heavily into play here, as while the solo Watcher is certainly not as difficult as, say, the Nameless King, Gael, Sulyvahn, Lothric/Lorian, etc., the lessons you need to learn from this fight will come in handy when it comes time to face the hardest bosses in the game. The Watcher moveset is agile, aggressive, and punishing, with wide sweeping attacks that close gaps and leave flames in their wake. The Abyss Watchers battle will likely serve as the first major wall of the game for the uninitiated, and beating them gives you that beautiful surge of confidence you need to feel that you can tackle what lies ahead.

The Abyss Watchers are not the single hardest fight in Dark Souls, nor are they the single flashiest. They are, however, an essentially perfect mid-game boss fight that channels a fan favorite in Artorias while providing a unique multi-phase encounter that is a pure joy for players new and old.

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shout out to black hand gotthard and sirris for this boss

I didn't have much trouble with that boss the first time around though, to be honest. I feel like their moves are quick but they have clear tells that makes for some pretty reasonable dodging. still very cinematic and fun

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A nice bit of flavor. When youre outside the boss door you can hear the clanging of metal as they battle.

Abyss Watchers are probably in my top five DS bosses, now that I think about it.

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g0ldie posted...

Abyss Watchers are probably in my top five DS bosses, now that I think about it.

Again, love the variety of opinions. I've got em at 9, you've got em top 5, someone else had em among their favorites, someone else said they shouldn't sniff the top ten, someone else said they aren't even top 30

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Both cutscenes for the abyss watchers are among the most badass moments in the series. Dark Souls 3 has some incredible cinematography

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https://youtu.be/rEelCAer3Q0

Ends with Legion Etiquette. That gesture generated nearly as much fedora-tipping as Quiet Resolve. lol

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Yeah, I have no regrets having these guys top ten. They are badass and fun as hell

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